Pittsburgh Steelers’ Willingness To Hire Brian Flores Not A Surprise

The NFL’s Rooney Rule is near and dear to the hearts of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ organization for an obvious reasons.

The rule was named after Dan Rooney, the late Steelers’ owner. Instituted in 2003, the Rooney Rule requires NFL teams to consider at least two minority candidates for high-profiles positions, including general manager and head coach.

So, it should not have been a shock that the Steelers hired Brian Flores as a senior defensive assistant over the weekend with an emphasis on working with the linebackers. Flores, who is Black, sued the NFL and three teams three weeks ago over alleged racist hiring practices after he was fired as head coach by the Miami Dolphins.

The Steelers take the Rooney Rule to heart. That is why they were willing to add Flores to coach Mike Tomlin’s staff despite his legal challenge to the league.

Tomlin, who is Black, is the longest-tenured head coach in the NFL, being hired prior to the 2007 season to replace the retired Bill Cowher following one season as the Minnesota Vikings’ defensive coordinator. Tomlin was just 34 at the time and got the job over Russ Grimm, then the Steelers’ offensive line coach and beloved within the organization and locker room.

Tomlin has lived up to the Steelers’ faith.

He has a 154-85-2 regular season record, which translates to a .643 winning percentage, and the Steelers have not had a losing record in any of his 15 seasons. Tomlin has also led the franchise to 10 playoff appearances, seven AFC North titles, two AFC championships and a Super Bowl win following the 2008 season.

While he has detractors among Steelers’ fan, who expect no less than a Super Bowl victory every season, Tomlin is one of the NFL’s most-respected coaches.

Tomlin doesn’t talk about the subject much as he prefers to stick to football in his media availabilities. Yet he is surely keenly aware Flores’ lawsuit is likely to represent a tipping point when it comes to the NFL and the hiring of minorities.

Tomlin was one of just three Black head coaches in the league during the 2021 season along with Flores and the Houston Texans’ David Culley. That number remains three at the end of the recent hiring cycle as San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel replaced Flores in Miami and defensive coordinator Lovie Smith was promoted to head coach by the Texans.

Not only did Tomlin add Flores to his staff but earlier this month promoted Teryl Austin, who is Black, from secondary coach to defensive coordinator.

However, hiring Flores is not just an altruistic move or publicity stunt. The 40-year-old has the track record of being a good coach despite his relatively youthful age.

While serving as linebackers coach, Flores was the defensive play caller in 2018 when the New England Patriots won the Super Bowl. That helped him land his first head coaching job and he had a 24-25 record in three seasons with the Dolphins, who finished above .500 each of the last two years.

The Steelers defense could use the help, too, despite linebacker T.J. Watt winning the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award last season. Despite Watt’s big year, Pittsburgh finished 20^th in points allowed, 24^th in total yards allowed and 32^nd among the league’s 32 teams in rushing yards allowed.

The Steelers still made it to the playoffs but lost to the Kansas City Chiefs 42-21 in the divisional round. The defense showed it was far from championship level in that game and the Steelers are hopeful Flores can have a hand in fixing that regardless of his potential court battle with the NFL.

“I am excited about Brian Flores joining our coaching staff given his history of developing and teaching defensive players during his time in the NFL,” Tomlin said in a statement released by the team. “Brian’s resume speaks for itself, and I look forward to him adding his expertise to help our team.”